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FOR
those in the container shipping industry
there is very little to be positive about
these days. But this certainly does not
preclude the fact that there are some positives
that we can look to. There are still some
trades, some regions, that offer us hope
and plenty of potential for the future.
The
Red Sea is one such area. With piracy down
to a five-year low in the region and a new
rail link being developed from the port
of Jeddah on one side of Saudi Arabia to
Dammam on the other, via the capital Riyadh,
and logistics companies developing warehousing
facilities throughout the region, the future
is looking rather bright.
In
this edition of the Shipping Gazette Online
Magazine we will look into this region that
appears set for strong growth in the coming
years...
 click image
to enlarge
The
Red Sea region, which is shown in the above
map, is defined as those countries or ports
located in the Red Sea before the Suez Canal
and after the Gulf of Aden. It includes
both the Asian and African sides.
The
countries in this region include the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Egypt, Yemen, Sudan,
Jordan, Eritrea and Djibouti.
Some
of these countries are located in "dual
regions", meaning that parts of it
may be situated in the Red Sea, while others
parts may be in another region. Saudi Arabia
is one example of this, given that its western
port of Jeddah is a Red Sea port, while
its eastern port of Dammam is a West Asian/Persian
Gulf port.
Egypt
is another classic case in point, where
its port of Sokhna is a Red Sea port, while
Port Said, Damietta and Alexandria are all
Mediterranean ports.
The
leading ports in the Red Sea region are
Jeddah in KSA; Aqaba in Jordan, Djibouti
in Djibouti; Port Sudan in Sudan, Hodeida
and the Port of Aden in Yemen, and Sokhna
in Egypt.
The
region is also quite advanced in terms of
container terminal privatisation¡Xsomething
lacking in many other up-and-coming parts
of the world.
Dubai
Ports World (DP World) is leading the charge
with operations in Jeddah, Sokhna and Djibouti.
It was also operating a facility at the
Port of Aden in Yemen; however, the group
is now in the process of pulling out of
the port.
APM
Terminals currently operates a terminal
at the Jordanian port of Aqaba.
The
economies of the region are rather varied.
Some of the nations, like oil-producing
Saudi Arabia, are very wealthy, whereas
others are very poor.
Some
of the concerns for the region and its potential
for growth are the threat of piracy¡Xalthough
well down of late¡Xdue to its proximity
to Somalia, and the insurgency movements
throughout the various countries in this
part of the world.
Egypt
has attracted a lot of attention in the
past year following the toppling of the
former regime, which of course has had a
significant impact on the country's economy.
Let's
now look at some of the key figures for
each of the Red Sea nations.
 click image
to enlarge
We
can see here that Egypt easily has the largest
population at 90 million people. It is followed
by Sudan, KSA and Yemen. Sudan and Yemen
are among the poorest countries in the world.
Djibouti has the smallest population with
not even one million people.
Due
to the political turmoil in the region GDP
growth has been stunted in the past two
years¡Xexcept for Saudi Arabia and Djibouti,
which recorded healthier growth.
Egypt
has traditionally been one of the leading
economies in the Red Sea and the Arab world,
but in 2011 only managed GDP growth of 1.2
per cent, due in large part to the political
turmoil there. Both Sudan and Yemen, which
have faced ongoing political and security
crises recorded negative growth in the same
year.
The
latest figures for 2012 are still not in,
but expectations are that Egyptian growth
continued to shrink last year and will do
so again in 2013.
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